Thin-film piezoelectric material element, head gimbal assembly and hard disk drive

ABSTRACT

A thin-film piezoelectric material element includes a laminated structure part having a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric material film laminated on the lower electrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on the piezoelectric material film. The thin-film piezoelectric material element includes a surface layer insulating film disposed on side surfaces of the laminated structure part and a top surface of the upper electrode film, and has a through hole formed on a top disposed part disposed on the top surface. The surface layer insulating film has a long-side disposed part disposed outside than the top disposed part, the long-side disposed part has a long-side width, along with the long-side direction, formed shorter than the through hole.

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a thin-film piezoelectric materialelement which has a piezoelectric material and electrodes havingthin-film like shape, head gimbal assembly and hard disk drive havingthe thin-film piezoelectric material element.

Related Background Art

A hard disk drive has a large recording capacity and is used as theheart of a storage device. The hard disk drive records and reproducesdata to/from a hard disk (recording medium) by a thin-film magnetichead. A part, which the thin-film magnetic head is formed, is called asa head slider, and a part, which the head slider is mounted on the edgepart, is a head gimbal assembly (will also be referred to as HGA).

Further, recording and reproducing of data to/from the recording mediumis performed by flying the head slider from a surface of the recordingmedium while rotating the recording medium, in the hard disk drive.

On the other hand, it has become difficult to control a position of thethin-film magnetic head accurately by control with only a voice coilmotor (VCM), because heightening a recording density of the recordingmedium has developed in company with increase of a capacity of the harddisk drive. Therefore formerly, a technology, which an actuator havingsupplementary function (a supplementary actuator) is mounted on the HGAin addition to a main actuator with the VCM, and the supplementaryactuator controls a minute position that is not able to be controlled bythe VCM, is known.

A technology, which the main actuator and the supplementary actuatorcontrol the position of the thin-film magnetic head, is also called twostage actuator system (dual-stage system).

In the two stage actuator system, the main actuator makes drive armsrotate to decide a position of the head slider on a specific track ofthe recording medium. Further, the supplementary actuator adjusts theposition of the head slider minutely so that the position of thethin-film magnetic head may become an optimum position.

A micro actuator using a thin-film piezoelectric material element isknown formerly as the supplementary actuator. The thin-filmpiezoelectric material element has a piezoelectric material and a pairof electrodes formed to sandwich the piezoelectric material, and each ofthem is formed to be a thin-film shape.

Further, a technology, which displacement stroke of the element isincreased to increase the displacement control amount of the magnetichead, is conventionally known (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 8,885,294(referred also to as Patent Document 1)). The HGA having a followingstructure is disclosed in the patent document 1. The HGA has thestructure which the piezoelectric material element is fixed to thebottom of concave part formed on a gimbal part. It is possible toprevent the stroke of expansion or shrinking of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element from escaping in a curved direction,thereby the displacement stroke of thin-film piezoelectric materialelement increase.

On the other hand, to avoid electrical shorting between the upperelectrode film and the lower electrode film, the piezoelectric materialelement, which the insulating layer made of oxide or poly-imide areformed to wrap on the top surface and side surfaces of four direction ofpiezoelectric material, is known (for example, see U.S. Pat. No.6,931,700 (referred to also as Patent Document 2), U.S. Pat. No.7,006,334 (referred to also as Patent Document 3)). An opening of theinsulating layer is formed on the top surface of the piezoelectricmaterial so that the top surface of the piezoelectric material isexposed, in these thin-film piezoelectric material elements. Further,the HGA, having a flexure including a structure with the piezoelectricelement, is disclosed in JP 2014-106985 (referred to also as PatentDocument 4). The thin-film piezoelectric material element is fixed tothe flexure, in the HGA.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As mentioned in the above-described Patent Documents 2-3, thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements having a structure, which the opening(or via hole) is formed in the insulating layer for securing electricalconduction with piezoelectric material, and an electrode layer is formedon the opening (referred to also as “opening and electrode structure”),is known. The electrode layer is extended from the opening to theoutside of the thin-film piezoelectric material element along with thesurface of the insulating layer, for securing electrical connection withthe outside and electrical supply from the outside, in thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements disclosed in these documents.

By the way, if an area for mounting the thin-film piezoelectric materialelement is secured widely in the HGA, an area for mounting the openingand electrode (referred to also as “opening and electrode area”) is ableto be secured even which side of an area along with the width directionof piezoelectric material (referred to also as “width direction area”)and an area along with the length direction of piezoelectric material(referred to also as “length direction area”).

In this case, because the piezoelectric material expands and shrinksalong with the length direction, if the opening and electrode area issecured in the width direction area, it does not affect length of thepiezoelectric material, and it does not affect expanding and shrinkingmotion of the piezoelectric material. Therefore, it is preferable thatthe opening and electrode area is secured in the width direction area.

However, a space for accommodating the opening and electrode layer isnot able to be secured in the width direction area of the HGA.Therefore, the opening and electrode area needs to be secured in thelength direction area.

If the electrode layer is extended along with length direction of thepiezoelectric material, it needs shortening of length of thepiezoelectric material. In this case, extension of the electrode layeraffects expanding and shrinking motion of the piezoelectric material.

On the other hand, concerning a pair of the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements, from reliability point of view, it is necessary tokeep opening and electrode layer not moving while the other thin-filmpiezoelectric material element expands and shrinks under the drivingvoltages. This can be done by make the piezoelectric material elementsinactive by overlapping with parts having strong mechanical strengthsuch as stainless substrate.

Further, in case of the thin-film piezoelectric material elementoverlapped on the stainless substrate, a stroke for expanding andshrinking motion of the thin-film piezoelectric material element isproportional to the length of thin-film piezoelectric material elementwithout overlapping with the stainless substrate, defined as “activelength”. Extension of the active length causes increase of the stroke.Accordingly, it is always the goal to design active thin-filmpiezoelectric material element with active length as longer as possible.

However, the opening and electrode area is secured in the lengthdirection area, in case of the conventional thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element having the opening and electrode structure. Therefore,the active length is limited by the length of total thin-filmpiezoelectric material element minus length of the opening and electrodearea. Further, in accordance with increasing size of the opening andneeded electrode layer length, it brings more difficulty about extendingof the active length of the thin-film piezoelectric material element.

The present invention is made to solve the above problem, and it is anobject to extend the active length, and increase the stroke while havingthe opening and electrode structure positioned in a long-side direction,in the thin-film piezoelectric material element, head gimbal assemblyand hard disk drive.

To solve the above problem, the present invention is a thin-filmpiezoelectric material element including: a laminated structure partincluding a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric material filmlaminated on the lower electrode film and an upper electrode filmlaminated on the piezoelectric material film; a surface layer insulatingfilm disposed on side surfaces of the laminated structure part and a topsurface of the upper electrode film, and has a through hole formed on atop disposed part disposed on the top surface; and an upper electrodepad being in directly contact with an inside exposed surface, exposedinside the through hole, of the upper electrode film; the upperelectrode pad arranged entirely inside an outer edge part of the topdisposed part, and formed without contact with a side disposed part,formed along with side surfaces of the laminated structure part, of thesurface layer insulating film.

In case of the above-described thin-film piezoelectric material element,because the upper electrode pad is arranged entirely inside the outeredge part of the top disposed part, and formed without contact with theside disposed part, larger space than the conventional one is secured inthe long-side direction of the thin-film piezoelectric material element.

Further, in case of the above-described thin-film piezoelectric materialelement, it is preferable that the upper electrode pad has a longpad-length along with a long-side direction of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element and a short pad-length along with ashort-side direction of the thin-film piezoelectric material element,the long pad-length is shorter than the short pad-length.

Further, the upper electrode pad has an outer end surface formed outsidethan the top disposed part, the outer end surface is formed entirelyflat, and disposed inside than the outer edge part of the top disposedpart.

It is preferable that the surface layer insulating film has a long-sidedisposed part disposed outside than the top disposed part along with along-side direction of the thin-film piezoelectric material element, thelong-side disposed part has a long-side width, along with the long-sidedirection, formed shorter than the through hole.

Furthermore, the inside exposed surface has a non pad-contact surface,formed partially, being out of contact with the upper electrode pad.

It is possible that the upper electrode pad is formed smaller than theinside exposed surface, the non pad-contact surface is formed so as tosurround the upper electrode pad.

Further, it is possible that the outer end surface is disposed entirelyinside the through hole.

It is preferable that the outer end surface has an extended partdisposed outside than the through hole, the extended part is disposedinside than the outer edge part of the top disposed part.

Further, the present invention provides a thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element including: a laminated structure part including a lowerelectrode film, a piezoelectric material film laminated on the lowerelectrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on thepiezoelectric material film; and a surface layer insulating filmdisposed on side surfaces of the laminated structure part and a topsurface of the upper electrode film, and has a through hole formed on atop disposed part disposed on the top surface; the surface layerinsulating film has a long-side disposed part disposed outside than thetop disposed part along with a long-side direction of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element, the long-side disposed part has along-side width, along with the long-side direction, formed shorter thanthe through hole.

Further, the present invention provides a head gimbal assembly includinga head slider having a thin-film magnetic head; a suspension forsupporting the head slider; and a thin-film piezoelectric materialelement for displacing the head slider relatively to the suspension; thethin-film piezoelectric material element including: a laminatedstructure part including a lower electrode film, a piezoelectricmaterial film laminated on the lower electrode film and an upperelectrode film laminated on the piezoelectric material film; a surfacelayer insulating film disposed on side surfaces of the laminatedstructure part and a top surface of the upper electrode film, and has athrough hole formed on a top disposed part disposed on the top surface;and an upper electrode pad being in directly contact with an insideexposed surface, exposed inside the through hole, of the upper electrodefilm; the upper electrode pad arranged entirely inside an outer edgepart of the top disposed part, and formed without contact with a sidedisposed part, formed along with side surfaces of the laminatedstructure part, of the surface layer insulating film.

In case of the above-described head gimbal assembly, it is preferablethat the upper electrode pad has an outer end surface formed outsidethan the upper disposed part, the outer end surface is formed entirelyflat, and disposed inside than the outer edge part of the top disposedpart, the head gimbal assembly further including: a suspension padformed on the suspension; and a connecting electrode which connects theouter end surface with the suspension pad.

Further, the present invention provides a head gimbal assembly includinga head slider having a thin-film magnetic head; a suspension forsupporting the head slider; and a thin-film piezoelectric materialelement for displacing the head slider relatively to the suspension; thethin-film piezoelectric material element including: a laminatedstructure part including a lower electrode film, a piezoelectricmaterial film laminated on the lower electrode film and an upperelectrode film laminated on the piezoelectric material film; and asurface layer insulating film disposed on side surfaces of the laminatedstructure part and a top surface of the upper electrode film, and has athrough hole formed on a top disposed part disposed on the top surface;the surface layer insulating film has, a long-side disposed partdisposed outside than the top disposed part along with a long-sidedirection of the thin-film piezoelectric material element, the long-sidedisposed part has a long-side width, along with the long-side direction,formed shorter than the through hole.

In the above-described head gimbal assembly, it is preferable that thehead gimbal assembly, further including: a suspension pad formed on thesuspension; and a connecting electrode which connects an inside exposedsurface, exposed inside the through hole of the upper electrode film,with the suspension pad.

Further, the present invention provides a hard disk drive including ahead gimbal assembly including a head slider having a thin-film magnetichead, a suspension for supporting the head slider, a thin-filmpiezoelectric material element for displacing the head slider relativelyto the suspension; and a recording medium; the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element including: a laminated structure part including a lowerelectrode film, a piezoelectric material film laminated on the lowerelectrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on thepiezoelectric material film; surface layer insulating film disposed onside surfaces of the laminated structure part and a top surface of theupper electrode film, and has a through hole formed on a top disposedpart disposed on the top surface; and an upper electrode pad being indirectly contact with an inside exposed surface, exposed inside thethrough hole, of the upper electrode film; the upper electrode padarranged entirely inside an outer edge part of the top disposed part,and formed without contact with a side disposed part, formed along withside surfaces of the laminated structure part, of the surface layerinsulating film.

Further, the present invention provides a hard disk drive including ahead gimbal assembly including a head slider having a thin-film magnetichead, a suspension for supporting the head slider, a thin-filmpiezoelectric material element for displacing the head slider relativelyto the suspension; and a recording medium; the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element including: a laminated structure part including a lowerelectrode film, a piezoelectric material film laminated on the lowerelectrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on thepiezoelectric material film; and a surface layer insulating filmdisposed on side surfaces of the laminated structure part and a topsurface of the upper electrode film, and has a through hole formed on atop disposed part disposed on the top surface; the surface layerinsulating film has a long-side disposed part disposed outside than thetop disposed part along with a long-side direction of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element, the long-side disposed part has along-side width, along with the long-side direction, formed shorter thanthe through hole.

In case of the above-described hard disk drive, it is preferable thatthe hard disk drive further including: a suspension pad formed on thesuspension; and a connecting electrode which connects an inside exposedsurface, exposed inside the through hole of the upper electrode film,with the suspension pad.

The present invention will be more fully understood from the detaileddescription given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which aregiven by way of illustration only, and thus are not to be considered aslimiting the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a whole of the HGA, from frontside, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing, from front side, a principal partof the HGA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a principal part of a suspensionconstituting the HGA in FIG. 1 from front side;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a part, which a thin-filmpiezoelectric material element is fixed, of flexure with enlargement;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the thin-film piezoelectric materialelement and the peripheral part of the HGA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view, similar with FIG. 6, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element connected to a suspension pad by aconnecting electrode;

FIG. 9 is a plan view, similar with FIG. 5, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element and the peripheral part according tomodified example;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view, similar with FIG. 6, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element, according to the modified example,connected to the suspension pad by the connecting electrode;

FIG. 13 is a plan view, similar with FIG. 5, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element and the peripheral part according toanother modified example;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line 14-14 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along the line 15-15 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view, similar with FIG. 14, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element, according to another modified example,connected to the suspension pad by the connecting electrode;

FIG. 17 is a plan view, similar with FIG. 5, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element and the peripheral part according tostill another modified example;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view taken along the line 18-18 in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along the line 19-19 in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is a sectional view, similar with FIG. 19, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element, according to still another modifiedexample, connected to the suspension pad by the connecting electrode;

FIG. 21 (a) is a sectional view showing a principal part of theconventional thin-film piezoelectric material element, FIG. 21 (b) is asectional view showing a principal part of another conventionalthin-film piezoelectric material element;

FIG. 22 (a) is a view schematically showing stroke of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element in FIG. 21 (a), FIG. 22 (b) is a viewschematically showing stroke of the thin-film piezoelectric materialelement in FIG. 21 (b);

FIG. 23 (a) is a plan view showing the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements according to the embodiment of the present embodiment, FIG. 23(b) is a plan view showing the conventional thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element;

FIG. 24 is a plan view showing the thin-film piezoelectric materialelement and the peripheral part in the conventional HGA;

FIG. 25 is a sectional view taken along the line 25-25 in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a sectional view, similar with FIG. 25, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element in FIG. 24 connected to the suspensionpad by the connecting electrode; and

FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing a hard disk drive equipped withthe HGA according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be describedwith reference to the drawings. Note that the same components will bereferred to with the same numerals or letters, while omitting theiroverlapping descriptions.

(Structure of HGA)

To begin with, a structure of the HGA according to the embodiment of thepresent invention will be explained with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4.Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a whole of the HGA 1, fromfront side, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2is a perspective view showing a principal part of the HGA 1 from frontside. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a principal part of thesuspension 50 constituting the HGA 1 from front side. Further, FIG. 4 isa perspective view showing a part, which a thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element 12 b is fixed, of a flexure 6 with enlargement.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the HGA 1 has the suspension 50 and a headslider 60. The suspension 50 has a base plate 2, a load beam 3, theflexure 6 and a dumper not illustrated, and it has a structure whichthese parts are joined to be united one body by a weld and so on.

The base plate 2 is a part which is used to fix the suspension 50 to adrive arms 209 of a later-described hard disk drive 201, and it isformed with a metal such as stainless steel or the like.

The load beam 3 is fixed on the base plate 2. The load beam 3 has ashape in which the width gradually decreases as it is distanced morefrom the base plate 2. The load beam 3 has a load bending part whichgenerates a power for pressing the head slider 60 against thelater-described hard disk 202 of the hard disk drive 201.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the flexure 6 has a flexuresubstrate 4, a base insulating layer 5, a connecting wiring 11 andthin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 a, 12 b. The flexure 6 hasa structure which the base insulating layer 5 is formed on the flexuresubstrate 4, the connecting wiring 11 and thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements 12 a, 12 b are adhered on the base insulating layer 5.Further, the not illustrated protective insulating layer is formed so asto cover the connecting wiring 11 and thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 a, 12 b.

The flexure 6 has a piezoelectric elements attached structure whichthin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 a, 12 b are fixed on thesurface of the base insulating layer 5 in addition to the connectingwiring 11 to become a structure with piezoelectric element.

Further, the flexure 6 has a gimbal part 10 on the tip side (load beam 3side). A tongue part 19, which the head slider 60 is mounted, is securedon the gimbal part 10, and a plurality of connecting pads 20 are formednear an edge side than the tongue part 19. Connecting pads 20 areelectrically connected to not-illustrated electrode pads of the headslider 60.

This flexure 6 expands or shrinks thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 a, 12 b and expands or shrinks stainless part (referred toout trigger part) jut out outside of the tongue part 19. That makes aposition of the head slider 60 move very slightly around not-illustrateddimple, and a position of the head slider 60 is controlled minutely.

The flexure substrate 4 is a substrate for supporting a whole of theflexure 6, and it is formed with stainless. Rear side of the flexuresubstrate 4 is fixed to the base plate 2 and the load beam 3 by weld. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the flexure substrate 4 has a center part 4 afixed to surfaces of the load beam 3 and the base plate 2, and a wiringpart 4 b extending to outside from the base plate 2.

The base insulating layer 5 covers s surface of the flexure substrate 4.The base insulating layer 5 is formed with for example polyimide, and ithas a thickness of about 5 μm to 10 μm. Further, as illustrated indetail in FIG. 3, a part of the base insulating layer 5, disposed on theload beam 3, is divided two parts. One part of them is a first wiringpart 5 a, the other part of them is second wiring part 5 b. Thethin-film piezoelectric material element 12 a and thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 12 b are adhered on surfaces of eachwiring part.

A plurality of connecting wirings 11 are formed on surfaces of each ofthe first wiring part 5 a and the second wiring part 5 b. Eachconnecting wiring 11 is formed with conductor such as copper or thelike. One end parts of each connecting wiring 11 are connected to thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 a, 12 b or each connectingpad 20.

The not-illustrated protective insulating layer is formed with forexample polyimide. The protective insulating layer has a thickness ofabout 1 μm to 2 μm, for example.

Further, a not illustrated thin-film magnetic head, which re records andreproduces data, is formed on the head slider 60. Furthermore, aplurality of not illustrated electrode pads are formed on the headslider 60, and each electrode pad is connected to the connecting pad 20.

(Structure of Thin-Film Piezoelectric Material Element)

Subsequently, the structure of thin-film piezoelectric material element12 b will be explained with reference to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8. Here, FIG. 5is a plan view showing the thin-film piezoelectric material element 12 band the peripheral part of the HGA 1. FIG. 6 is a sectional view takenalong the line 6-6 in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along theline 7-7 in FIG. 5. FIG. 8 is a sectional view, similar with FIG. 6,showing the thin-film piezoelectric material element 12 b connected to asuspension pad 26 by a connecting electrode 18 b. Note that theconnecting electrode 18 b is omitted in FIGS. 5-7 for convenience ofillustration.

The thin-film piezoelectric material element 12 b (similar to thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 12 a), as illustrated in FIG. 5-FIG. 8,has a laminated structure part 21, a surface layer insulating film 22,an upper electrode pad 24A and a lower electrode pad 24B.

The thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b, 12 a are adhered tothe surface of the base insulating layer 5 with epoxy resin. A resinlayer 28 made of the epoxy resin is formed between the laminatedstructure part 21 and the base insulating layer 5.

The thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b is formed with arectangular shape in a plan view, as illustrated in detail in FIG. 5. Apad region 25 is secured at one side along with a long-side direction ofthe thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b. The pad region 25 isa region from a boundary line 22 e of a later-described top disposedpart 22 a and a side disposed part 22 b to an upper electrode pad 24Aand a lower electrode pad 24B. The upper through hole 23A, lower throughhole 23B, the upper electrode pad 24A and lower electrode pad 24B areformed in the pad region 25.

Note that “upper” and “lower” in the present invention do not shownecessarily upper side, lower side in a condition which the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element is adhered on the base insulating layer5. These words are terms for reasons of convenience so as to distinguishtwo upper, lower electrode films 21 b, 21 c and so on opposing eachother sandwiching the piezoelectric material film 21 a their between. Inthe actual products, the upper electrode film 21 b is sometimes disposedlower side, and the lower electrode film 21 c is sometimes disposedupper side.

The laminated structure part 21 has the piezoelectric material film 21a, the lower electrode film 21 c and the upper electrode film 21 b. Thepiezoelectric material film 21 a is laminated on the lower electrodefilm 21 c, the upper electrode film 21 b is laminated on thepiezoelectric material film 21 a. The laminated structure part 21 haslaminated structure formed of the piezoelectric material film 21 a, thelower electrode film 21 c and the upper electrode film 21 b.

The piezoelectric material film 21 a is formed to be a thin-film shapeusing a piezoelectric material such as lead zirconate titanate ((Pb(Zr,Ti) O₃) which will also be referred to as “PZT” in the following) orthe like. The piezoelectric material film 21 a is formed by epitaxialgrowth and it has a thickness of about 2 μm to 5 μm. A piezoelectricceramics (much of them are ferroelectric substance) such as bariumtitanate, lead titanate or the like, non-lead system piezoelectricceramics not including titanium or lead are able to be used for thepiezoelectric material film 21 a instead of using PZT.

The lower electrode film 21 c is a thin-film (thickness about 100 nm)made of metal element which has Pt (it may include Au, Ag, Pd, Ir, Ru,Cu, in addition to Pt) as main ingredient, it is formed on the baseinsulating layer 5. A crystal structure of the lower electrode film 21is a face-centered cubic structure.

Note that a lower adhesive film is preferably formed between the lowerelectrode film 21 c and the piezoelectric material film 21 a, notillustrated though. The lower adhesive film is a thin-film (thicknessabout 20 nm) made of conductive material formed by epitaxial growth suchas SrRuO₃ (referred to also as SRO) or the like, it is able to be formedon top surface, of the lower electrode film 21 c, of the piezoelectricmaterial film 21 a side. The piezoelectric material film 21 a is able tobe formed on the lower adhesive film.

The upper electrode film 21 b is a polycrystal thin-film (thicknessabout 50 nm) with metal element which has Pt (it may include Au, Ag, Pd,Ir, Rh, Ni, Pb, Ru, Cu, in addition to Pt) as main ingredient, it isformed on the piezoelectric material film 21 a. The upper electrode film21 b has a figure which the part under the lower through hole 23B andthe peripheral part are lacked (hereinafter, referred also to as“partial lacked figure), so as not to be in touch with later-describedlower electrode pad 24B.

Further, not illustrated though, an upper adhesive film is preferablyformed between the piezoelectric material film 21 a and the upperelectrode film 21 b. The upper adhesive film is a thin-film (thicknessabout 35 nm) made of amorphous conductive material such as SrRuO₃ or thelike, and it is formed on the piezoelectric material film 21 a.

The surface layer insulating film 22 is disposed on the top surface andside surfaces of four direction of the laminated structure part 21, andit is formed so as to cover the top surface and side surfaces of fourdirection of the laminated structure part 21. The surface layerinsulating film 22 is formed with insulating material such as polyimideor the like. The surface layer insulating film 22 has a top disposedpart 22 a, a side disposed part 22 b, and a long-side disposed part 22c.

The top disposed part 22 a is a part disposed on the top surface oflaminated structure part 21. The top disposed part 22 a is formeddirectly on the top surface 21 ba of the upper electrode film 21 b. Oneend side of the long-side direction of the top disposed part 22 a isassigned to the pad region 25.

The side disposed part 22 b is a part disposed on a long-side sidesurfaces of the laminated structure part 21. The long-side side surfacesare a pair of side surfaces along the long-side direction of thethin-film piezoelectric material element 12 b among four side surfaces.The side disposed parts 22 b are formed directly on the long-side sidesurfaces of the laminated structure part 21. The long-side disposedparts 22 c are connected to the lower end part of the side disposedparts 22 b.

The long-side disposed parts 22 c is a part projected outside from theside disposed parts 22 b along the long-side direction. The long-sidedisposed parts 22 c is formed directly on the base insulating layer 5. Alength of the long-side disposed parts 22 c along the long-sidedirection (hereinafter, referred also to as “long-side length”) L22 c isshorter than later-described long-side length L23 (L22 c<L23).Therefore, in the thin-film piezoelectric material element 12 b, theside disposed parts 22 b are brought near to later-described suspensionpad 26 though, even so the long-side disposed parts 22 c is not incontact with the suspension pad 26.

The upper through hole 23A is formed in the pad region 25 of the topdisposed part 22 a. The upper through hole 23A penetrates the topdisposed part 22 a, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The top surface of theupper electrode film 21 b is exposed, inside the upper through hole 23A,as an inside exposed surface 21 bb having rectangular shape in a planview.

The lower through hole 23B is also formed in the pad region 25 of thetop disposed part 22 a. The lower through hole 23B penetrates the topdisposed part 22 a similar with the upper through hole 23A, asillustrated in FIG. 7. Because the upper electrode film 21 b is formedwith above-described partial lacked figure, surface of the piezoelectricmaterial film 21 a is exposed, inside the lower through hole 23B, as aninside exposed surface 21 aa having rectangular shape in a plan view.

The upper electrode pad 24A is formed inside the upper through hole 23A.The upper electrode pad 24A is formed in a rectangular parallelepipedshape. The upper electrode pad 24A is in directly contact with theinside exposed surface 21 bb which is a surface of the upper electrodefilm 21 b. The upper electrode pad 24A is entirely disposed inside anouter edge part 22 d (outermost peripheral part of the top disposed part22 a). Further, the upper electrode pad 24A is formed without contactwith the side disposed parts 22 b.

Then, the upper electrode pad 24A has a long-pad length L24 and ashort-pad length W24. The long-pad length L24 is a length of the upperelectrode pad 24A along with long-side direction of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 12 b. The short-pad length W24 is alength of the upper electrode pad 24A along with short-side direction ofthe thin-film piezoelectric material element 12 b. Further, the long-padlength L24 is shorter than the short-pad length W24 (L24<W24).

Further, the upper electrode pad 24A has an outer end surface 24AShaving rectangular shape in a plan view. A fine mesh pattern is drawn inthe outer end surface 24AS, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The outer endsurface 24AS is formed outside the top disposed part 22 a, asillustrated in FIG. 6. The outer end surface 24AS is entirely flat. Theouter end surface 24AS is disposed inside the outer edge part 22 d, anddisposed inside the upper through hole 23A. Note that rough mesh patternis drawn in the suspension pad 26, in FIG. 5.

Furthermore, the upper electrode pad 24A is formed in a size smallerthan the inside exposed surface 21 bb. A gap is secured between theupper electrode pad 24A and inside side surface of the upper throughhole 23A. And, a part of the inside exposed surface 21 bb is a nonpad-contact surface being out of contact with the upper electrode pad24A. The non pad-contact surface is formed in a circular shape whichsurrounds periphery of the upper electrode pad 24A.

The lower electrode pad 24B has an upper pad part 24Ba and a lower padpart 24Bb, as illustrated in FIG. 7. The upper pad part 24Ba isconnected with the top surface of the lower pad part 24Bb. The upper padpart 24Ba and the lower pad part 24Bb are formed in the rectangularparallelepiped shape respectively.

The upper pad part 24Ba is formed inside the lower through hole 23B. Theupper pad part 24Ba is entirely disposed inside the outer edge part 22 dsimilar with the upper electrode pad 24A. Further, the upper pad part24Ba is formed without contact with the side disposed parts 22 b.

The upper pad part 24Ba has the same long-pad length L24 and short-padlength W24 as the upper electrode pad 24A. Further, the upper pad part24Ba has the same outer end surface 24BS having rectangular shape in aplan view as the upper electrode pad 24A. As illustrated in FIG. 5, thesame fine mesh pattern is also drawn in the outer end surface 24BS asthe outer end surface 24AS. The outer end surface 24BS is entirely flat.The outer end surface 24BS is disposed entirely inside the outer edgepart 22 d, and disposed inside the upper through hole 23A.

Furthermore, the upper pad part 24Ba is formed in a size smaller thanthe inside exposed surface 21 aa similar with the upper electrode pad24A, and the gap is also secured between the upper pad part 24Ba andinside side surface of the lower through hole 23B. And, a part of theinside exposed surface 21 aa is formed the non pad-contact surface beingout of contact with the upper pad part 24Ba. The non pad-contact surfaceis formed in a circular shape which surrounds periphery of the upper padpart 24Ba.

The lower pad part 24Bb penetrates the piezoelectric material film 21 a.The lower pad part 24Bb is embedded in a hole part of the piezoelectricmaterial film 21 a. The top surface of the lower pad part 24Bb isexposed in the top surface of the piezoelectric material film 21 a, theupper pad part 24Ba is connected to the top surface of the lower padpart 24Bb. The lower pad part 24Bb is directly contact with the topsurface of the lower electrode film 21 c.

The thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b, having theabove-described structure, is connected to suspension pads 26, 26 withconnecting electrode 18 b (referred to also connecting pad, can beformed with solder, for example). In this case, connecting electrodes 18b, 18 b connect outer end surfaces 24AS, 24BS of the upper, lowerelectrode pad 24A, 24B to suspension pads 26, 26, respectively.

Note that connecting wiring 11 and thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 b, 12 a are shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, for illustration ofconvenience, they are not exposed in the surface of the flexure 6,because they are cover with not-illustrated protective insulating layer.

(Operation and Effect of Thin-Film Piezoelectric Material Element)

Subsequently, operation and effect of the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element 12 b having the above-described structure will beexplained with comparing the thin-film piezoelectric material element 12b according to the embodiment of the present invention with aconventional thin-film piezoelectric material element 112 b.

First of all, the conventional thin-film piezoelectric material element112 b will be explained as follows. The conventional thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 112 b is shown in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG.26. Here, FIG. 24 is a plan view showing the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element 112 b and the peripheral part in the conventional HGA.FIG. 25 is a sectional view taken along the line 25-25 in FIG. 24. FIG.26 is a sectional view, similar with FIG. 25, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 112 b connected to the suspension pad 26by the connecting electrode 118 b.

The conventional thin-film piezoelectric material element 112 b has alaminated structure part 121, a surface layer insulating film 122, anupper electrode pad 124A and a lower electrode pad 124B. The thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 112 b is adhered to the surface of thebase insulating layer 5 with epoxy resin similar with the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 12 b. Therefore, a resin layer 28 made ofthe epoxy resin is formed between the laminated structure part 121 andthe base insulating layer 5.

The thin-film piezoelectric material elements 112 b is formed with thesame rectangular shape with the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 b, a pad region 125 is secured in one side along with along-side direction of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 112b. The pad region 125 is a region from a boundary line 122 e of alater-described top disposed part 122 a and a side disposed part 122 bof the surface layer insulating film 122 to upper, lower electrode pads124A, 124B.

The laminated structure part 121 has the upper electrode film 121 b, thepiezoelectric material film 121 a and the lower electrode film 121 c.The laminated structure part 121 has the same three-layers structurewith the laminated structure part 21. However, the active length ALX isshorter than the active length AL of the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements 12 b.

The surface layer insulating film 122 is different in that it has a topdisposed part 122 a, a side disposed part 122 b, and a long-sidedisposed part 122 c as compared with the surface layer insulating film22. The top disposed part 122 a is a part disposed on the top surface oflaminated structure part 121, the side disposed part 122 b is a partdisposed on long-side side surfaces of the laminated structure part 121,and the long-side disposed parts 122 c is a part projected outside fromthe side disposed parts 122 b along the long-side direction. Thelong-side length L122 c is longer than later-described long-side lengthL123 (L122 c>L123). The surface layer insulating film 122 differs fromthe surface layer insulating film 22 in this point greatly.

The upper, lower through holes 123A, 123B are different in that parts ofupper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B are formed inside themrespectively without gap, as compared with the upper, lower throughholes 23A, 23B. Further, the upper, lower through holes 123A, 123B aredifferent in that the upper, lower through holes 123A, 123B are smallerthan later-described outer end surfaces 124AS, 124BS of the upper, lowerelectrode pad 124A, 124B, as compared with the upper, lower throughholes 23A, 23B.

The upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B are directly in contact withsurfaces of the upper, lower electrode films 121 b, 121 c respectivelyas the upper, lower electrode pads 24A, 24B are directly in contact withsurfaces of the upper, lower electrode films 21 b, 21 c respectively.However, the upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B and the upper, lowerelectrode pads 24A, 24B are different in the following A) to F).

A) Parts of the upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B are disposedoutside an outer edge part 122 d of the top disposed part 122 a.However, the upper, lower electrode pad 24A, 24B are entirely disposedinside the outer edge part 22 d.

B) The upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B have parts being incontact with the side disposed parts 122 b respectively. However, theupper, lower electrode pad 24A, 24B are formed without being contactwith the side disposed parts 22 b, and they do not have parts being incontact with the side disposed parts 22 b.

C) Long-pad length L124 of the upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B islonger than the short-pad length W124 of the upper, lower electrode pads124A, 124B. However, long-pad length L24 of the upper, lower electrodepads 24A, 24B is shorter than the short-pad length W24 of the upper,lower electrode pads 24A, 24B (L24<W24).

D) Outer end surfaces 124AS, 124BS have parts formed outside the outeredge part 122 d, and they have parts formed outside than the upper,lower through holes 123A, 123B. However, outer end surfaces 24AS, 24BSare entirely disposed inside the outer edge part 22 d, and they aredisposed inside the upper, lower through holes 23A, 23B.

E) The upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B are formed in size largerthan the upper, lower through holes 123A, 123B. However, the upper,lower electrode pad 24A, 24B are formed in size smaller than the upper,lower through holes 23A, 23B.

F) The upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B are in contact with theexposed surface of the upper, lower electrode film 121 b, 121 c insidethe through holes 123A, 123B. However, the upper, lower electrode pad24A, 24B are in contact with only a part of the inside exposed surface21 bb, 21 aa.

As described above, the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 bis different in structures of the upper, lower through holes 23A, 23B,the upper, lower electrode pad 24A, 24B and the surface layer insulatingfilm 22 respectively.

By the way, the active length AL is decided by the length of long-sidedirection of the part which existing part in the pad region 25 and OVLin FIG. 6 are removed from the laminated structure part 121. The OVL iscorresponding to the part which the flexure substrate 4, the laminatedstructure part 21 and top disposed part 22 a of the surface layerinsulating film 22 are overlaid. There is no great difference betweenthe laminated structure part 21 and the laminated structure part 121about length of part existing in the pad region 25,125 and length ofOVL. However, respective active length AL and ALX are different asfollows.

In the conventional thin-film piezoelectric material elements 112 b, theupper, lower electrode pad 124A, 124B are extended from the throughholes 123A, 123B to upper side of the long-side disposed parts 122 cthrough the side disposed parts 122 b. And as illustrated in FIG. 26,part, of the upper, lower electrode pad 124A, 124B, on the long-sidedisposed parts 122 c (projected part 124AX, 124BX) are connected to thesuspension pad 26.

On the other hand, in the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12b, the upper, lower through holes 23A, 23B, the upper, lower electrodepads 24A, 24B and the surface layer insulating film 22 are provided,parts connected with the suspension pad 26 are the upper, lowerelectrode pads 24A, 24B.

Then, the upper, lower electrode pads 24A, 24B are disposed inside theouter edge part 22 d, and they are out of contact with the side disposedparts 22 b, they are entirely disposed inside the top disposed part 22a. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 23 (a), FIG. 23 (b), the length 25X,of the pad region 25 and long-side disposed parts 22 c along thelong-side direction of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12b, are greatly shortened as compared with the length 125X of the padregion 125 and long-side disposed parts 122 c, and lengths along thelong-side direction of the upper, lower electrode pads 24A, 24B are alsogreatly shortened as compared with conventional one.

Therefore, a space along the long-side direction of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 12 b is larger than a space along thelong-side direction of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 112b, thereby the length of the laminated structure part 21 along thelong-side direction can be made longer than the length of the laminatedstructure part 121 along the long-side direction.

Accordingly, in the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b, theactive length is extended than the conventional thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements 112 b, the active length AL can be made longer thanthe active length ALX. Therefore, the stroke of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 12 b is increased than the stroke of thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 112 b.

Further, concerning the upper, lower electrode pad 24A, 24B, thelong-pad lengths L24 of them are shorter than the short-pad lengths W24.Because this is effective for shortening the space of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 12 b along the long-side direction, thespace of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b along thelong-side direction is further extended, thereby the active length isfurther extended.

Further, the outer end surfaces 24AS, 24BS of the upper, lower electrodepads 24A, 24B are entirely flat, and they do not have bending parts likethe upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B. If the bending parts existlike the upper, lower electrode pads 124A, 124B, existence of the partson the side disposed part 122 b bring difficulty about approach of thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 112 b to the suspension pad26, thereby space extension of the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 112 b along the long-side direction is difficult.

However, in case of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b,the outer end surfaces 24AS, 24BS are entirely flat, and upper, lowerelectrode pads 24A, 24B do not have bending parts. Therefore, thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b is able to be approached,space extension of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 balong the long-side direction is able to be executed.

Further, in case of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b,long-side length L22 c of the long-side disposed parts 22 c is shorterthan the long-side length L23 of the upper through hole 23A. Therefore,the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b is able to be moreapproached, the length of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements12 b is able to be extended. This brings further space extension of thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 b along the long-sidedirection.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 21(a), the conventionalthin-film piezoelectric material elements 190, having a piezoelectricmaterial film 141, flat flexure substrate 144 and a base insulatinglayer 145 has a problem in which the stroke escape in a bendingdirection. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 21(b), the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 191, having the base insulating layer155 instead of the base insulating layer 145, is conventionally known. Acavity 156 is formed in the base insulating layer 155.

Then, as illustrated in FIG. 22(a), the stroke of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 190 is the size that subtract reducedamount with bending of the piezoelectric material film 141 from 2Δ (twotimes of Δ) when the piezoelectric material film 141 is flat. Further,as illustrated in FIG. 22(a), the stroke of the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements 191 is the size that subtract reduced amount withbending of the piezoelectric material film 141 from 2Δ+2h Sin θ, whenthe piezoelectric material film 141 is flat.

The thin-film piezoelectric material elements 191 has an effect byimprovement of escaping stroke in bending direction, but length of thepiezoelectric material film 141 is the same with the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 191, so there is no difference aboutactive length.

On the other hand, in case of the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 b according to the present invention, the long-side lengthof the laminated structure part 21 is longer than the conventional one,so active length become longer than the conventional one. Accordingly,active length is extended than the conventional one, the stroke is alsoincreased than the conventional one.

Modified Example 1

Subsequently, the thin-film piezoelectric material element 42 baccording to the modified example 1 will be explained with reference toFIG. 9 to FIG. 12. Here, FIG. 9 is a plan view, similar with FIG. 5,showing the thin-film piezoelectric material element 42 b and theperipheral part according to the modified example 1. FIG. 10 is asectional view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is asectional view taken along the line 11-11 in FIG. 9. FIG. 12 is asectional view, similar with FIG. 10, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 42 b, connected to the suspension pad 26by the connecting electrode 18 b. Note that the connecting electrode 18b is omitted in FIGS. 9-11 for convenience of illustration.

The thin-film piezoelectric material element 42 b are different in thatit has upper, lower electrode pads 34A, 34B instead of upper, lowerelectrode pads 24A, 24B, as compared with the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element 12 b.

The upper electrode pad 34A have an inside pad part 34Aa and outside padpart 34Ab. The inside pad part 34Aa and outside pad part 34Ab areunified.

The inside pad part 34Aa is formed inside the upper through hole 23A,but a part of the inside pad part 34Aa is in contact with the upperthrough hole 23A. The inside pad part 34Aa is formed in the rectangularparallelepiped shape. The inside pad part 34Aa is directly in contactwith the inside exposed surface 21 bb, and disposed entirely inside theouter edge part 22 d. Further, the inside pad part 34Aa is formedwithout contact with the side disposed parts 22 b.

The outside pad part 34Ab is a part which extends outside than the upperthrough hole 23A (referred to also extended part). The outside pad part34Ab is disposed in the closer position than the inside pad part 34Aa tothe suspension pads 26. The outside pad part 34Ab is formed on thesurface layer insulating film 22. The outside pad part 34Ab is disposedentirely inside the outer edge part 22 d. The outside pad part 34Ab isformed without contact with the side disposed parts 22 b.

The upper electrode pad 34A has a long-pad length L34 and the short-padlength W24, it is preferable that the long-pad length L34 is less thanthe short-pad length W24 (L34≦W24).

Further, the upper electrode pad 34A has an outer end surface 34AShaving rectangular shape in a plan view. As illustrated in FIG. 9, thefine mesh pattern is drawn in the outer end surface 34AS. As illustratedin FIG. 10, the outer end surface 34AS is a part formed outside the topdisposed part 22 a. The outer end surface 34AS is entirely flat. A partof the outer end surface 34AS is disposed outside the upper through hole23A, but the outer end surface 34AS is entirely inside the outer edgepart 22 d.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the lower electrode pad 34B have an upper padpart 34Ba and lower pad part 34Bb. The upper pad part 34Ba is connectedto the top surface of the lower pad part 34Bb.

The upper pad part 34Ba have an inside pad part and outside pad part,similar with the upper electrode pad 34A, the inside pad part andoutside pad part are unified. The upper pad part 34Ba is disposedentirely inside the outer edge part 22 d, similar with the upperelectrode pad 34A. Further, the upper pad part 34Ba is formed withoutcontact with the side disposed parts 22 b.

The lower pad part 34Bb penetrates the piezoelectric material film 21 a.The lower pad part 34Bb is in directly contact with the top surface ofthe lower electrode film 21 c.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the thin-film piezoelectric material elements42 b, having the above-described structure, is connected to suspensionpads 26, 26 with connecting electrode 18 b. In this case, connectingelectrodes 18 b, 18 b connect outer end surfaces 34AS, 34BS of theupper, lower electrode pads 34A, 34B to suspension pads 26, 26,respectively.

The above-described thin-film piezoelectric material elements 42 b hasthe same the upper, lower through holes 23A, 23B with the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 12 b and further it has the upper, lowerelectrode pads 34A, 34B, and the surface layer insulating film 22.

Parts of the upper, lower electrode pads 34A, 34B are extended outsidethe upper, lower through holes 23A, 23B unlike the upper, lowerelectrode pads 24A, 24B, but the upper, lower electrode pads 34A, 34Bare entirely not in contact with the side disposed parts 22, and theupper, lower electrode pads 34A, 34B are disposed entirely inside theouter edge part 22 d. Therefore, in case of the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements 42 b, a space is also able to be secured along thelong-side direction, similar with the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 b, length of the laminated structure part 21 along thelong-side direction can be made longer than a length of the laminatedstructure part 121 along the long-side direction.

Therefore, the active length of the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 42 b is also extended than the active length of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 112 b, the active length AL is able tobe extended than the conventional active length ALX. Accordingly, thestroke of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 42 b isincreased than the stroke of the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 112 b.

Further, when the long-pad length L34 of the upper, lower electrode pads34A, 34B is shorter than the short-pad length W24, the space of thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 42 b along the long-sidedirection is further extended, thereby the active length is furtherextended.

Further, the outer end surfaces 34AS, 34BS of the upper, lower electrodepads 34A, 34B are flat, and they do not have bending parts. Therefore,the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 42 b is able to beapproached to the suspension pad 26, further space extension of thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 42 b along the long-sidedirection is able to be executed.

Modified Example 2

Subsequently, the thin-film piezoelectric material element 52 baccording to the modified example 2 will be explained with reference toFIG. 13 to FIG. 16. Here, FIG. 13 is a plan view, similar with FIG. 5,showing the thin-film piezoelectric material element 52 b and theperipheral part according to the modified example 2. FIG. 14 is asectional view taken along the line 14-14 in FIG. 13, FIG. 15 is asectional view taken along the line 15-15 in FIG. 13. FIG. 16 is asectional view, similar with FIG. 14, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 52 b, connected to the suspension pad 26by the connecting electrode 18 b. Note that the connecting electrode 18b is omitted in FIGS. 13-15 for convenience of illustration.

The thin-film piezoelectric material element 52 b are different in thatit does not have upper, lower electrode pads 24A, 24B, as compared withthe thin-film piezoelectric material element 12 b.

However, the connecting electrode 18 b, 18 b are formed directly on theupper, lower electrode film 21 b, 21 c. Thereby, as illustrated in FIG.16, the thin-film piezoelectric material element 52 b is connected tothe suspension pad 26.

The thin-film piezoelectric material element 52 b has the same surfacelayer insulating film 22 as the thin-film piezoelectric material element12 b. Because, the surface layer insulating film 22 has the long-sidedisposed parts 22 c, the long-side length L22 c is shorter than thelong-side length L23, the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 52 bis able to be approached so as not to be in touch with the suspensionpad 26.

Therefore, the length of the thin-film piezoelectric material element 52b is able to be extended, the space along the long-side direction of thethin-film piezoelectric material element 52 b is able to be extended,the active length is extended.

Modified Example 3

Subsequently, the thin-film piezoelectric material element 62 baccording to the modified example 3 will be explained with reference toFIG. 17 to FIG. 20. Here, FIG. 17 is a plan view, similar with FIG. 5,showing the thin-film piezoelectric material element 62 b and theperipheral part according to the modified example 3. FIG. 18 is asectional view taken along the line 18-18 in FIG. 17, FIG. 19 is asectional view taken along the line 19-19 in FIG. 17. FIG. 20 is asectional view, similar with FIG. 19, showing the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element 62 b, connected to the suspension pad 26by the connecting electrode 18 b. Note that the connecting electrode 18b is omitted in FIGS. 17-19 for convenience of illustration.

The thin-film piezoelectric material element 62 b are different in thatit has upper, lower electrode pads 44A, 44B instead of upper, lowerelectrode pads 24A, 24B, as compared with the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element 12 b.

The upper electrode pad 44A have an inside pad part 44Aa and outside padpart 44Ab. The inside pad part 44Aa and outside pad part 44Ab areunified.

The inside pad part 44Aa is formed inside the upper through hole 23A,further it is in contact with the upper through hole 23A. The inside padpart 44Aa is formed in the rectangular parallelepiped shape. The insidepad part 44Aa is directly in contact with the inside exposed surface 21bb, and disposed entirely inside the outer edge part 22 d. Further, theinside pad part 44Aa is formed without contact with the side disposedparts 22 b.

The outside pad part 44Ab is a part, like flange, which extends outsidethe upper through hole 23A. The outside pad part 44Ab is formed on thesurface layer insulating film 22. However, the outside pad part 44Ab isdisposed entirely inside the outer edge part 22 d. The outside pad part44Ab is formed without contact with the side disposed parts 22 b.

The upper electrode pad 44A has a long-pad length L44 and a short-padlength W44, it is preferable that the long-pad length L44 is less thanthe short-pad length W44 (L44≦W44).

Further, the upper electrode pad 44A has an outer end surface 44AShaving rectangular shape in a plan view. As illustrated in FIG. 17, thefine mesh pattern is drawn in the outer end surface 44AS. As illustratedin FIG. 18, the outer end surface 44AS is a part formed outside the topdisposed part 22 a. The outer end surface 44AS is entirely flat. A partof the outer end surface 44AS is disposed outside the upper through hole23A, but the outer end surface 44AS is entirely inside the outer edgepart 22 d.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, the lower electrode pad 44B have an upper padpart 44Ba and lower pad part 44Bb. The upper pad part 44Ba is connectedto the top surface of the lower pad part 44Bb.

The upper pad part 44Ba have an inside pad part and outside pad part,similar with the upper electrode pad 44A, the inside pad part andoutside pad part are unified. The upper pad part 44Ba is disposedentirely inside the outer edge part 22 d, similar with the upperelectrode pad 44A. Further, the upper pad part 44Ba is formed withoutcontact with the side disposed parts 22 b.

The lower pad part 44Bb penetrates the piezoelectric material film 21 a.The lower pad part 44Bb is in directly contact with the top surface ofthe lower electrode film 21 c.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, the thin-film piezoelectric material elements62 b, having the above-described structure, is connected to suspensionpads 26, 26 with connecting electrode 18 b. In this case, connectingelectrodes 18 b, 18 b connect outer end surfaces 44AS, 44BS of theupper, lower electrode pads 44A, 44B to suspension pads 26, 26,respectively.

The above-described thin-film piezoelectric material elements 62 b hasthe upper, lower through holes 23A, 23B, the upper, lower electrode pads44A, 44B, and the surface layer insulating film 22.

Parts of the upper, lower electrode pads 44A, 44B are extended outsidethe upper, lower through holes 23A, 23B unlike the upper, lowerelectrode pads 24A, 24B, but the upper, lower electrode pads 44A, 44Bare entirely not in contact with the side disposed parts 22, and theupper, lower electrode pads 44A, 44B are disposed entirely inside theouter edge part 22 d. Therefore, in case of the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements 62 b, a space is also able to be secured along thelong-side direction, similar with the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 b, length of the laminated structure part 21 along thelong-side direction can be made longer than a length of the laminatedstructure part 121 along the long-side direction.

Therefore, the active length of the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 62 b is also extended than the active length of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material elements 112 b, the active length AL is able tobe extended than the conventional active length ALX. Accordingly, thestroke of the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 62 b isincreased than the stroke of the thin-film piezoelectric materialelements 12 b.

Further, when the long-pad length L44 of the upper, lower electrode pads44A, 44B is shorter than the short-pad length W44, the space of thethin-film piezoelectric material elements 62 b along the long-sidedirection is further extended, thereby the active length is furtherextended.

Further, the outer end surfaces 44AS, 44BS of the upper, lower electrodepads 44A, 44B are flat, and they do not have bending parts. Therefore,the thin-film piezoelectric material elements 62 b is able to beapproached, further space extension of the thin-film piezoelectricmaterial elements 62 b along the long-side direction is able to beexecuted.

(Embodiments of Hard Disk Drive)

Next, embodiments of the hard disk drive will now be explained withreference to FIG. 27.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view illustrating a hard disk drive 201equipped with the above-mentioned HGA 1. The hard disk drive 201includes a hard disk (magnetic recording medium) 202 rotating at a highspeed and the HGA 1. The hard disk drive 201 is an apparatus whichactuates the HGA 1, so as to record/reproduce data onto/from recordingsurfaces of the hard disk 202. The hard disk 202 has a plurality of (4in the drawing) platters. Each platter has a recording surface opposingits corresponding the head slider 60.

The hard disk drive 201 positions the head slider 60 on a track by anassembly carriage device 203. A thin-film magnetic head, notillustrated, is formed on this head slider 60. Further, the hard diskdrive 201 has a plurality of drive arms 209. The drive arms 209 pivotabout a pivot bearing shaft 206 by means of a voice coil motor (VCM)205, and are stacked in a direction along the pivot bearing shaft 206.Further, the HGA 1 is attached to the tip of each drive arm 209.

Further, the hard disk drive 201 has a control circuit 204 controllingrecording/reproducing.

In the hard disk drive 201, when the HGA 1 is rotated, the head slider60 moves in a radial direction of the hard disk 202, i.e., a directiontraversing track lines.

In case such hard disk drive 201 are formed with the above-describedthin-film piezoelectric material elements 12 a, 12 b, because theextension of the active length brings the increase of the stroke, minuteadjustment for position of the thin-film magnetic head is able to beexecuted accurately.

This invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiments but variouschanges and modifications of its components may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. Besides, it is clearthat various embodiments and modified examples of the present inventioncan be carried out on the basis of the foregoing explanation. Therefore,the present invention can be carried out in modes other than theabove-mentioned best modes within the scope equivalent to the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A thin-film piezoelectric material elementcomprising: a laminated structure part comprising a lower electrodefilm, a piezoelectric material film laminated on the lower electrodefilm and an upper electrode film laminated on the piezoelectric materialfilm; a surface layer insulating film disposed on side surfaces of thelaminated structure part and a top surface of the upper electrode film,and has a through hole formed on a top disposed part disposed on the topsurface; and an upper electrode pad being in directly contact with aninside exposed surface, exposed inside the through hole, of the upperelectrode film; wherein the upper electrode pad arranged entirely insidean outer edge part of the top disposed part, and formed without contactwith a side disposed part, formed along with side surfaces of thelaminated structure part, of the surface layer insulating film.
 2. Thethin-film piezoelectric material element according to claim 1, whereinthe upper electrode pad has a long pad-length along with a long-sidedirection of the thin-film piezoelectric material element and a shortpad-length along with a short-side direction of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element, wherein the long pad-length is shorterthan the short pad-length.
 3. The thin-film piezoelectric materialelement according to claim 1, wherein the upper electrode pad has anouter end surface formed outside than the top disposed part, wherein theouter end surface is formed entirely flat, and disposed inside than theouter edge part of the top disposed part.
 4. The thin-film piezoelectricmaterial element according to claim 1, wherein the surface layerinsulating film has a long-side disposed part disposed outside than thetop disposed part along with a long-side direction of the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element, wherein the long-side disposed part hasa long-side width, along with the long-side direction, formed shorterthan the through hole.
 5. The thin-film piezoelectric material elementaccording to claim 4, wherein the inside exposed surface has a nonpad-contact surface, formed partially, being out of contact with theupper electrode pad.
 6. The thin-film piezoelectric material elementaccording to claim 5, wherein the upper electrode pad is formed smallerthan the inside exposed surface, wherein the non pad-contact surface isformed so as to surround the upper electrode pad.
 7. The thin-filmpiezoelectric material element according to claim 3, wherein the outerend surface is disposed entirely inside the through hole.
 8. Thethin-film piezoelectric material element according to claim 3, whereinthe outer end surface has an extended part disposed outside than thethrough hole, wherein the extended part is disposed inside than theouter edge part of the top disposed part.
 9. A head gimbal assemblycomprising a head slider having a thin-film magnetic head; a suspensionfor supporting the head slider; and a thin-film piezoelectric materialelement for displacing the head slider relatively to the suspension;wherein the thin-film piezoelectric material element comprising: alaminated structure part comprising a lower electrode film, apiezoelectric material film laminated on the lower electrode film and anupper electrode film laminated on the piezoelectric material film; asurface layer insulating film disposed on side surfaces of the laminatedstructure part and a top surface of the upper electrode film, and has athrough hole formed on a top disposed part disposed on the top surface;and an upper electrode pad being in directly contact with an insideexposed surface, exposed inside the through hole, of the upper electrodefilm; wherein the upper electrode pad arranged entirely inside an outeredge part of the top disposed part, and formed without contact with aside disposed part, formed along with side surfaces of the laminatedstructure part, of the surface layer insulating film.
 10. The headgimbal assembly according to claim 9, wherein the upper electrode padhas an outer end surface formed outside than the upper disposed part,wherein the outer end surface is formed entirely flat, and disposedinside than the outer edge part of the top disposed part, wherein thehead gimbal assembly further comprising: a suspension pad formed on thesuspension; and a connecting electrode which connects the outer endsurface with the suspension pad.
 11. A hard disk drive comprising a headgimbal assembly including a head slider having a thin-film magnetichead, a suspension for supporting the head slider, a thin-filmpiezoelectric material element for displacing the head slider relativelyto the suspension; and a recording medium; wherein the thin-filmpiezoelectric material element comprising: a laminated structure partcomprising a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric material filmlaminated on the lower electrode film and an upper electrode filmlaminated on the piezoelectric material film; a surface layer insulatingfilm disposed on side surfaces of the laminated structure part and a topsurface of the upper electrode film, and has a through hole formed on atop disposed part disposed on the top surface; and an upper electrodepad being in directly contact with an inside exposed surface, exposedinside the through hole, of the upper electrode film; wherein the upperelectrode pad arranged entirely inside an outer edge part of the topdisposed part, and formed without contact with a side disposed part,formed along with side surfaces of the laminated structure part, of thesurface layer insulating film.